Bedstraw Hawkmoth!

Bedstraw Hawkmoth

I got up this morning at 4.20am to cover the moth trap to prevent spuggie incursion, and found this chunky foreigner sitting on the top egg tray! Judging by the size of the abdomen I assume its a female Bedstraw Hawkmoth. I hope it can find somewhere to breed, but it may be futile as our winters are too cold for the pupae to survive.

This is a first for me, and was much larger than expected. I thought maybe a bit larger than Hummingbird Hawk, but it was about large Elephant Hawkmoth sized. Shortly after the top photo was taken it rose up into the air and off at great speed west...

According to Northumberland Moths this is the 26th adult in the county, but only the 10th in the last 35 years!

The best moth of the year by a long way.